NBA Eastern Conference Preview Part 1

With the NBA season now not too far away and with the first pre season games due to take place in less than a month I have decided to have a look ahead at what the upcoming NBA Season will bring us.

Starting in the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division the Boston Celtics have radically changed from last season’s bunch of players after some block buster trades. Losing Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett makes the task of making the play offs look all that more difficult. The man that survived the mass clear out taking place in Boston was Rajon Rondo who now looks like the man Boston want to lead the franchise into the future.

Another major loss is Head Coach Doc Rivers who has left to coach the Clippers in Los Angeles. Brad Stevens is therefore the man that has been chosen to take the organisation forward as it begins an inevitable rebuilding process. The players that came the other way in the trade of Garnett and Pierce to the Nets will help especially Kris Humphries and Gerald Wallace. Unlike in previous years there are few superstars left in Boston which means the fans will need to be patient with this new bunch of players.

The major surprise coming out of the Brooklyn Nets this off season has been the appointment of Jason Kidd who has no past Head Coach experience. Over the past 2 years the men behind the scenes in Brooklyn have worked extremely hard to add to their organisation. Stars player for the Nets this season are set to be Deron Williams, Jason Terry, Paul Pierce, Brook Lopez, Kevin Garnett and Joe Johnson. That’s a scary team especially with some of them set to come off the bench for much of the upcoming season.

The Knicks main piece of business over the close season has been the signing of Metta World Peace. The former Laker is set to be part of an impressive line up in New York that will include Tyson Chandler, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudamire. The Knicks are now all to aware that they need to be challenging for that Eastern Conference title if they are to live up to expectations.

The Philadelphia 76ers are in a very different position to most other teams in the NBA. Looking at their roster it is hard to pick out a starting five due to the majority of their players being mediocre NBA journeymen. Jason Richardson and Evan Turner will be the experienced duo tasked with bringing this team back from the brink. The major addition this summer has come in the form of the draft as the 76ers drafted Nerlins Noel.

In the last of the Eastern Division Atlantic Teams the Toronto Raptors are yet another NBA team going through a period of transition with draft picks trying to be secured in order to build on the pieces already in Toronto. Despite this a push for the play offs is by no means beyond this bunch of players as the roster for the new season contains faces like Rudy Gay and Amir Johnson.

It is hard to look past the Brooklyn Nets for the Atlantic title this season as the other teams seem to be content with a rebuilding process while the Raptors will pose the biggest threat to the Nets this season.

That’s it for my preview of the Atlantic Division. Next Week I will be back later on in the week to finish off previewing the rest of the Eastern Conference teams and I shall also reveal who I think will emerge victorious from the Eastern Conference at the end of the 2013/2014 season.